ELLISVILLE – Murray Hutchinson's (Madison Central) first career home run proved to be huge in helping Jones College split with Northwest here Saturday at Community Bank Park.
 
Hutchinson's three-run blast helped the Bobcats to a 13-10 victory in game two. The Rangers took the opener 12-8 on a long day at the ball park.
 
Jones is now 19-11 overall and 6-8 in the MACCC. The Rangers are 15-15 and 5-9.
 
The Bobcats return home for a 3 p.m. twinbill on Wednesday vs. Southwest. Northwest travels to Coahoma on Wednesday.
 
Northwest 12, Jones 8
 
The Rangers never trailed in taking the opener.
 
Trailing 2-0 going to the bottom of the first inning, Colson Harris (West Jones) hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Hutchinson. Down 4-1 going to the bottom of the third, DeeJay Booth's (Oak Grove) ground out scored Hutchinson to make it 4-2.
 
Northwest added three runs in the fourth to take a 7-2 lead. In the bottom of the fourth, Luke Lycette (Northwest Rankin) doubled to right-center to score Drew Williamson (Vancleave) and Josh Cary (Petal) to cut the margin to 7-4.
 
The Rangers then scored two in the fifth and three in the sixth to take a 12-4 lead.
 
Booth hit his fourth home run of the year, a three-run bomb to center, in the bottom of the sixth to make it 12-7. Tyler Ducksworth (South Jones) blasted his second home run of the season in the bottom of the ninth to account for the final margin.
 
Booth homered, singled and drove in four runs, Lycette doubled and singled and had two RBIs and Hutchinson and Harris each had two singles. Ducksworth homered and Billy Garrity (Sumrall) and Chase Honeycutt (DeSoto Central) added singles
 
Starter Kade Keeton (Brandon) tossed 3.1 innings and got the loss, falling to 3-1. He allowed six runs, five hits, walked three and struck out six. Kace Matthews (West Jones), Cade Mattison (Lamar Christian) and Joshua Sullivan (Brandon) also pitched for the Bobcats.
 
Ryan Lee homered, tripled, drove in three runs and scored four for Northwest. Caleb Hobson doubled and singled and Wesley Lester singled twice for the Rangers. Dawson Griffin added a double with Alan Kivett, Cameron Lancaster, Landon Rogers and Peeko Townsend adding singles.
 
Starter Colton Presley went 5.0 innings and got the win, improving to 4-0. He allowed three earned runs, six hits, four walks and struck out four. Connor Spencer got the final two outs and recorded his fifth save. Jaylon Buckley and Zach Beasley also pitched for the Rangers.
 
Jones 13, Northwest 10
 
The Bobcats never trailed in game two, but had to hang on in the final inning.
 
Jones loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first and got a sacrifice fly from Garrity and an RBI ground out from Harris to take a 2-0 lead.
 
After the Rangers tied it at 2-2 in the top of the second, the Bobcats responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame.
 
Lycette singled, Garrett Clendenning (Biloxi) walked and Hutchinson launched his home run well over the right field wall to give Jones a 5-2 lead. Later in the inning, Booth scored on a passed ball and Cary singled Garrity home.
 
Hobson hit a two-run home run in the top of the fourth for Northwest.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Harris singled Ducksworth home and Lycette doubled into the left field corner to score Harris and Cary to give the Bobcats a 10-4 lead.
 
In the top of the fifth, Lee homered and Lester hit a two-run home run to make it 10-7.
 
In the bottom of the fifth with the bases loaded, Lycette walked and McCrae Houston (Northwest Rankin) was hit by a pitch to give the Bobcats a 12-7 lead.
 
Jones got its final run in the sixth when Ducksworth walked and later scored on an error.
 
In Northwest's final at-bat in the seventh, they got RBI singles from Brady Logan and Hunter Cramer and a sacrifice fly from Tyler Byrd to cut the margin to 13-10. An error and a walk followed an infield single to load the bases with two outs and bring the go-ahead run to the plate.
 
But reliever Drew Druckenmiller (Mobile, Alabama) struck out Lee to end the game.
 
Cary had three singles for the Bobcats. Hutchinson homered, singled and drove in three runs and Lycette doubled twice and had three RBIs. Harris had two singles and two RBIs. Garrity added a double with Booth, Ducksworth and Clendenning getting singles.
 
Starter Peyton Bell (Mobile, Alabama) got the win, moving his record to 2-1. He went 4.0 innings, allowed four runs (two earned), five hits, walked two and struck out five. Blake Summerlin (Northwest Rankin) pitched an inning with two strikeouts and Druckenmiller went the final 2.0 innings and had three strikeouts.
 
Lester homered, doubled and singled and drove in two runs for Northwest. Hobson homered, tripled and had three RBIs. Lancaster doubled and singled with Lee hitting a home run. Kivett, Logan, Townsend and Cramer added singles.
 
Starter Brooks Rice pitched 1.1 innings and got the loss, falling to 0-1 on the year. Josh Hill, Jake Savage, CJ Lofton, Logan Eldridge and Brayden Sanders also pitched for the Rangers.